In 1979, the United States officially severed diplomatic ties with the
Republic of China (
Taiwan). This decision marked a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, turning to view the
People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China.
The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full
diplomatic relations.
Iranian Revolution: Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts, and government administration; the final session of the Iranian
National Consultative Assembly is held.
Pluto moves inside
Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
February 10–
11 – The Iranian Revolution ends with the Iranian army withdrawing to its barracks leaving power in the hands of Ayatollah
Khomeini, ending the
Pahlavi dynasty.
February 14 – In
Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to
Afghanistan,
Adolph Dubs, who is killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.[4]
February 21 – Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Gayaza Hills: A Tanzanian brigade successfully dislodged Ugandan forces from the Gayaza Hills. The battle is hard-fought, and the Tanzanians suffer their largest number of casualties in a single engagement of the war.
A
total solar eclipse, the last visible from the continental United States until 2017, arcs over northwestern
conterminous US and central Canada ending in Greenland. A partial solar eclipse is visible over almost all of North America and Central America including the eastern half of Alaska and the western half of the UK.[6]
The Soviet oil tanker
Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in
Ventspils, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the
Baltic Sea.[7]
March 10 – Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Lukaya: The Ugandan military, a Libyan expeditionary force and allied
Palestine Liberation Organisation militants begin a counter-offensive against Tanzanian troops in south-central Uganda. The Ugandan-led alliance retakes
Lukaya after a short clash with the Tanzanian military.
March 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lukaya: The Tanzanian military counter-attacks at Lukaya, completely defeating the Ugandan-led alliance. This defeat permanently cripples the Ugandan military.
The last British soldier (belonging to the
Royal Navy) leaves the
Maltese Islands, after 179 years of presence.
Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
Nickelodeon launches from
QUBE'sPinwheel experiment and begins airing on various Warner Cable systems beginning in Buffalo, New York, expanding its audience reach.
April 14 – The
Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting over 70 deaths and over 500 injured.[12]
April 17 – Schoolchildren in the
Central African Republic are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory
school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor
Jean-Bédel Bokassa "almost certainly" took part in the massacre.
Dan White is convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, for the assassination of
San Francisco Mayor
George Moscone and Supervisor
Harvey Milk, after using what would become known as the "
Twinkie defense" and persuading a jury that the crime was not premeditated. The maximum sentence is seven years imprisonment, with eligibility for early parole, prompting the "
White Night riots" in the gay community.
Etan Patz, six years old, is kidnapped in New York. He is often referred to as the "Boy on the Milk Carton" and the investigation later sprouts into one of the most famous child abduction cases of all time. This is a cold case until 2010 when it is re-opened. In April 2017, Pedro Hernandez is convicted of the murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The first black-led government of
Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to
Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of
Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on his first official, nine-day stay, becoming the first Pope to visit a
Communist country. This visit, known as nine days that changed the world, brings about the solidarity of the Polish people against Communism, ultimately leading to the rise of the
Solidarity movement.
Ixtoc I oil spill: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern
Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional
oil spill until it is surpassed by the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
McDonald's introduces the
Happy Meal in the United States in a nationwide advertising campaign after testing the product since February in franchises in the U.S. state of
Missouri.[15]
June 20 – A
Nicaraguan National Guard soldier kills
ABC TV news correspondent
Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape.
A
fire at a hotel in
Zaragoza, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.
July 15 – President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation in a televised speech talking about the "crisis of confidence in America today"; it would go on to be known as his "national malaise" speech.
The
disco music genre dominates and peaks on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the first six spots (beginning with
Donna Summer's Bad Girls), and seven of the chart's top ten songs ending that week.
August 9 –
Raymond Washington, co-founder of the
Crips, today one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles; the killers have not yet been identified.
August 10 –
Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album Off the Wall. It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7× platinum album.
August 29 – A national referendum is held in which
Somali voters approve a new liberal constitution, promulgated by
President Siad Barre to placate the United States.
September 7 – The first cable sports channel, the Entertainment Sports Programming Network (better known as
ESPN), is launched in the United States.
September 9 – The long-running comic strip For Better or For Worse begins its run, in Canada, before becoming syndicated elsewhere in North America and the world.
Near
Guam,
Typhoon Tip reaches a record intensity of 870 millibars, the lowest pressure recorded at sea level. This makes Tip the most powerful
tropical cyclone in known world history.
October 17 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates become only the fourth
MLB team (as well as the only MLB franchise to accomplish the feat twice) to recover from a 3-games-to-1 deficit to win the
1979 World Series.
October 19 – 13 U.S. Marines die in a fire at
Camp Fuji, Japan as a result of Typhoon Tip.[21]
October 31 –
Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, killing 72 occupants plus one on the ground; 16 people on board survive.
Assata Shakur (née Joanne Chesimard), a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, escapes from a New York prison to Cuba, where she remains under political asylum.
November 4 –
Iran hostage crisis begins: 500 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in
Tehran and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former
Shah of Iran back to stand trial.
The
Carl Bridgewater murder trial ends in England with all four men found guilty. James Robinson, 45, and 25-year-old Vincent Hickey are sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended 25-year minimum for murder. 18-year-old Michael Hickey is also found guilty of murder and sentenced to indefinite detention. Patrick Molloy, 53, is found guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison.[26]
November 10 –
1979 Mississauga train derailment: A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history.
Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in
Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all
oil imports into the United States from Iran.
November 21 – After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that the Americans had occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in
Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing four, and disturbing
Pakistan–United States relations.
The
NATO Double-Track Decision: is the decision of NATO from December 12, 1979, to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles combined with the threat that in case of disagreement NATO would deploy more middle-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe, following the so-called "
Euromissile Crisis".
^Wausau (WI) Daily Herald, June 15, 1979, p. 9; Helena (MT) Independent-Record, June 19, 1979, p. 31; Grand Junction (CO) Daily Sentinel, June 19, 1979, p. 3; Seymour (IN) Tribune, June 20, 1979, p. 15
^Smart, Michael (2011). Into the Lion's Mouth: The Story of the Wildrake Diving Accident.
Medford, Oregon: Lion's Mouth Publishing.
ISBN978-0-615-52838-0.
^Diehl, Matt (2007). My So-Called Punk: Green Day, Fall Out Boy, the Distillers, Bad Religion—How Neo-Punk Stage-Dived into the Mainstream. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 92.
^"Misty Hyman". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^"Ruth BeitÃa". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^Dummett, Michael (1980). The Death of Blair Peach: the Supplementary Report of the Unofficial Committee of Enquiry. London: National Council for Civil Liberties.
ISBN978-0-9011-0891-3.
In 1979, the United States officially severed diplomatic ties with the
Republic of China (
Taiwan). This decision marked a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, turning to view the
People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China.
The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full
diplomatic relations.
Iranian Revolution: Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts, and government administration; the final session of the Iranian
National Consultative Assembly is held.
Pluto moves inside
Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
February 10–
11 – The Iranian Revolution ends with the Iranian army withdrawing to its barracks leaving power in the hands of Ayatollah
Khomeini, ending the
Pahlavi dynasty.
February 14 – In
Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to
Afghanistan,
Adolph Dubs, who is killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.[4]
February 21 – Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Gayaza Hills: A Tanzanian brigade successfully dislodged Ugandan forces from the Gayaza Hills. The battle is hard-fought, and the Tanzanians suffer their largest number of casualties in a single engagement of the war.
A
total solar eclipse, the last visible from the continental United States until 2017, arcs over northwestern
conterminous US and central Canada ending in Greenland. A partial solar eclipse is visible over almost all of North America and Central America including the eastern half of Alaska and the western half of the UK.[6]
The Soviet oil tanker
Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in
Ventspils, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the
Baltic Sea.[7]
March 10 – Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Lukaya: The Ugandan military, a Libyan expeditionary force and allied
Palestine Liberation Organisation militants begin a counter-offensive against Tanzanian troops in south-central Uganda. The Ugandan-led alliance retakes
Lukaya after a short clash with the Tanzanian military.
March 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lukaya: The Tanzanian military counter-attacks at Lukaya, completely defeating the Ugandan-led alliance. This defeat permanently cripples the Ugandan military.
The last British soldier (belonging to the
Royal Navy) leaves the
Maltese Islands, after 179 years of presence.
Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
Nickelodeon launches from
QUBE'sPinwheel experiment and begins airing on various Warner Cable systems beginning in Buffalo, New York, expanding its audience reach.
April 14 – The
Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting over 70 deaths and over 500 injured.[12]
April 17 – Schoolchildren in the
Central African Republic are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory
school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor
Jean-Bédel Bokassa "almost certainly" took part in the massacre.
Dan White is convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, for the assassination of
San Francisco Mayor
George Moscone and Supervisor
Harvey Milk, after using what would become known as the "
Twinkie defense" and persuading a jury that the crime was not premeditated. The maximum sentence is seven years imprisonment, with eligibility for early parole, prompting the "
White Night riots" in the gay community.
Etan Patz, six years old, is kidnapped in New York. He is often referred to as the "Boy on the Milk Carton" and the investigation later sprouts into one of the most famous child abduction cases of all time. This is a cold case until 2010 when it is re-opened. In April 2017, Pedro Hernandez is convicted of the murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The first black-led government of
Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to
Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of
Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on his first official, nine-day stay, becoming the first Pope to visit a
Communist country. This visit, known as nine days that changed the world, brings about the solidarity of the Polish people against Communism, ultimately leading to the rise of the
Solidarity movement.
Ixtoc I oil spill: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern
Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional
oil spill until it is surpassed by the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
McDonald's introduces the
Happy Meal in the United States in a nationwide advertising campaign after testing the product since February in franchises in the U.S. state of
Missouri.[15]
June 20 – A
Nicaraguan National Guard soldier kills
ABC TV news correspondent
Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape.
A
fire at a hotel in
Zaragoza, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.
July 15 – President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation in a televised speech talking about the "crisis of confidence in America today"; it would go on to be known as his "national malaise" speech.
The
disco music genre dominates and peaks on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the first six spots (beginning with
Donna Summer's Bad Girls), and seven of the chart's top ten songs ending that week.
August 9 –
Raymond Washington, co-founder of the
Crips, today one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles; the killers have not yet been identified.
August 10 –
Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album Off the Wall. It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7× platinum album.
August 29 – A national referendum is held in which
Somali voters approve a new liberal constitution, promulgated by
President Siad Barre to placate the United States.
September 7 – The first cable sports channel, the Entertainment Sports Programming Network (better known as
ESPN), is launched in the United States.
September 9 – The long-running comic strip For Better or For Worse begins its run, in Canada, before becoming syndicated elsewhere in North America and the world.
Near
Guam,
Typhoon Tip reaches a record intensity of 870 millibars, the lowest pressure recorded at sea level. This makes Tip the most powerful
tropical cyclone in known world history.
October 17 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates become only the fourth
MLB team (as well as the only MLB franchise to accomplish the feat twice) to recover from a 3-games-to-1 deficit to win the
1979 World Series.
October 19 – 13 U.S. Marines die in a fire at
Camp Fuji, Japan as a result of Typhoon Tip.[21]
October 31 –
Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, killing 72 occupants plus one on the ground; 16 people on board survive.
Assata Shakur (née Joanne Chesimard), a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, escapes from a New York prison to Cuba, where she remains under political asylum.
November 4 –
Iran hostage crisis begins: 500 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in
Tehran and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former
Shah of Iran back to stand trial.
The
Carl Bridgewater murder trial ends in England with all four men found guilty. James Robinson, 45, and 25-year-old Vincent Hickey are sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended 25-year minimum for murder. 18-year-old Michael Hickey is also found guilty of murder and sentenced to indefinite detention. Patrick Molloy, 53, is found guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison.[26]
November 10 –
1979 Mississauga train derailment: A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history.
Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in
Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all
oil imports into the United States from Iran.
November 21 – After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that the Americans had occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in
Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing four, and disturbing
Pakistan–United States relations.
The
NATO Double-Track Decision: is the decision of NATO from December 12, 1979, to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles combined with the threat that in case of disagreement NATO would deploy more middle-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe, following the so-called "
Euromissile Crisis".
^Wausau (WI) Daily Herald, June 15, 1979, p. 9; Helena (MT) Independent-Record, June 19, 1979, p. 31; Grand Junction (CO) Daily Sentinel, June 19, 1979, p. 3; Seymour (IN) Tribune, June 20, 1979, p. 15
^Smart, Michael (2011). Into the Lion's Mouth: The Story of the Wildrake Diving Accident.
Medford, Oregon: Lion's Mouth Publishing.
ISBN978-0-615-52838-0.
^Diehl, Matt (2007). My So-Called Punk: Green Day, Fall Out Boy, the Distillers, Bad Religion—How Neo-Punk Stage-Dived into the Mainstream. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 92.
^"Misty Hyman". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^"Ruth BeitÃa". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^Dummett, Michael (1980). The Death of Blair Peach: the Supplementary Report of the Unofficial Committee of Enquiry. London: National Council for Civil Liberties.
ISBN978-0-9011-0891-3.